1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to automotive floor mats, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for postively locating floor mats in automotive vehicles by having at least one portion of the floor mat retainer system mounted to the automotive vehicle. The need for retainers in connection with automotive floor mats is fully discussed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,361,610; 4,481,240, 4,588,628 and 4,673,603 owned by the assignee of the present invention. However, even though these patents discuss the need for the retention of automotive floor mats with regard to automotive carpets, they do not deal with the positive retention of floor mats in automotive vehicles by having a portion of a floor mat mounting system attached to the automobile body, which is the subject of the present invention.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It has long been the practice to cover areas of automotive carpeting which are subjected to heavy wear with separate floor mats, which usually have at least one surface covered with a carpet material, although they may be of an all rubber construction. For as long as this has been done, there has been a severe problem with these mats unexpectedly moving, and sometimes causing interference with the proper operation of the brake and/or accelerator pedals in automobiles. Recently there have been recalls involving thousands of automobiles to have their floor mats replaced because they have slipped and jammed under the accelerator pedal, and in some cases have caused accidents. While the floor mats disclosed in the above-mentioned patents of the common assignee of the present application, and in a recent application owned by said common assignee entitled "Floor Mat and Method of Attaching Retainer Thereto", filed on Oct. 15, 1987, under Ser. No. 07/109,291, have been found to be entirely satisfactory for a large majority of automotive applications, it has also been found that some floor pan designs, whether dictated by styling, function, or otherwise, still present problems which are not entirely solved by the aforementioned floor mats. This has caused the inventors in the present application to continue their work in the automotive floor mat area, and has led to the present invention which provides positive retention of the floor mat in the automotive vehicle by having at least part of the system positively mounted to the vehicle itself. Substantial and long-standing problems in the art had to be solved to determine how to provide this positive retention and still provide for the periodic removal and cleaning of the automotive floor mat.
Applicants are aware of many previous attempts to provide positive retention of automotive floor mats. One of these is to sew the floor mat to the automotive carpet. However, this makes it completely unremovable, which is undesirable, and because of the twisting motions placed on the floor mats when the occupants enter and leave the a vehicle, the floor mats tended to be torn where they were sewn to the carpet.
Another attempt simply was to try and attach the floor mats to the automotive floor pan. However, as is well known in the automotive art, automotive carpeting is backed by a water proof bonding layer to prevent moisture, such as accumulated on the carpeting when occupants enter when it has been raining or snowing, from penetrating the carpeting and contacting the automotive floor pan, which causes severe rusting problems. Whether one attempted, for example, to screw the floor mat down through the automotive carpeting to the floor pan, or place a fastening means on the floor pan and provide an opening in the carpet for the fastening means to pass through, both of these destroyed the water imperviousness of the automotive carpeting, and presented severe rusting problem s. Thus, Applicants knew a novel solution to this problem was needed.